Certain vehicles, especially industrial work machines, are expensive and not easily replaced. Thus, it is vital to provide such vehicles with robust theft protection systems. Nonetheless, it may not be desirable to simply disable a vehicle entirely in order to provide such protection. For example, an operator may wish to protect a vehicle (e.g., a vessel) from theft while its engine remains running. In addition, the operator may wish to restrict access to certain systems on the vehicle without deactivating such systems. For example, a vessel operator/owner may wish to allow maintenance personnel to access and/or operate the vessel subject to certain restrictions (e.g., engine speed limit).
In certain situations, a plurality of vehicles may need protection. For example, a fleet of geographically-dispersed vessels may require protection from theft. Thus, the ability to provide theft protection to each of these vehicles from a central location is critical, in terms of both economic efficiency and logistics.
To address the above concerns, various vehicle theft-protection systems have emerged, which attempt to provide robust and flexible theft protection capabilities. In many of these systems, a primary controller, to which an operator has access, communicates with a secondary controller that controls an engine or vehicle system (e.g., fuel pump). In the event the primary controller detects an unauthorized operator, the secondary unit will deactivate its respective system. Conventional theft-protection systems, however, are deficient on several fronts. Typical systems fail to provide theft protection while facilitating various system-specific modes of protection. For example, typical systems do not restrict the operation of certain vehicle systems while allowing unrestricted operation of other systems. Further, typical systems do not provide centralized control over a plurality of vehicles. In addition, conventional systems fail to provide robust protection in that they are easily defeated by bypassing or removing the primary and/or secondary controllers from these systems. Moreover, if an existing controller is replaced with a new controller, the new controller may not be configured to provide subsequent theft protection.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,356,186 to Price et al. describes a vehicle anti-theft system which allows the vehicle engine to operate in various protection modes. One such protection mode includes speed limit mode, in which a controller limits road or engine speed. The '186 patent mentions that limiting engine speed may allow maintenance personnel to move a vehicle subject to a 1000 rpm engine speed limit. Although the system described by Price et al. provides a solution for allowing a vehicle engine to operate in various theft protection modes, it is limited to engine operation. That is, the disclosed system does not allow vehicle operators to set different protection modes for a plurality of different types of systems and components associated with a vehicle. In addition, the system described by Price et al. does not provide robust theft protection and does not address the problems encountered when the controller is removed or bypassed by a thief.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,144,112 to Gilmore describes a vehicle anti-theft system which immobilizes a vehicle's fuel pump to provide theft protection. The anti-theft system uses a pump control unit (PCU) to control the fuel pump. In the system described by Gilmore, the PCU cannot be activated to control the fuel pump unless it receives certain responses from an engine control unit (ECU). Thus, if the ECU is bypassed by a thief, the fuel pump will not activate and the engine will not start. Although Gilmore provides a solution for providing theft protection in the event an ECU is bypassed, it is limited solely to deactivating a fuel pump to prevent an engine start. Thus, the disclosed system does not provide theft protection while allowing certain systems and components to operate. Further, the system described by Gilmore does not address the problems associated with configuring a new ECU upon removal of an existing unit. In addition, Gilmore's system does not address the problems associated with centrally protecting a fleet vehicles.
Methods, systems, and articles of manufacture consistent with certain embodiments of the present invention are directed to solving one or more of the problems set forth above.